Private Doctors Need Not Await Govt Approval For COVID-19 Tests On Categories Of Patients Mentioned In ICMR Guidelines : Gujarat HC [Read Order]

The Gujarat High Court on Friday held that private doctors and hospitals need not wait for approval from the government authorities for carrying out COVID-19 tests on those categories of patients mentioned in the testing guidelines laid down by the Indian Council of Medical Research.A division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice J B Pardiwala noted that the requirement of. The Gujarat High Court on Friday held that private doctors and hospitals need not wait for approval from the government authorities for carrying out COVID-19 tests on those categories of patients mentioned in the testing guidelines laid down by the Indian Council of Medical Research. The Court has not interfered with the requirement of government approval for private hospitals to do COVID-19 tests on patients not falling within the categories mentioned in ICMR. The Court passed the direction considering a petition filed by Ahmedabad Medical Association and Dr. Malay Devendra Patel who challenged a Gujarat government order prohibiting private doctors and hospitals from conducting COVID-19 tests without getting approval from designated health officials.